HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Holland’s two neighboring institutions of higher education are teaming together to help those behind bars get a college education.
Two years ago, Hope College and Western Theological Seminary started a pilot program at the Muskegon Correctional Facility to provide “a Christian liberal arts education to incarcerated men.” The success of the effort has led program organizers to seek accreditation for graduates to receive a full Bachelor of Arts degree.
“Essentially, the prison will become an extension campus of the college, and men housed there will be able to earn a BA, majoring in Faith, Leadership and Service, with standards as rigorous as those expected of Holland-based Hope College students,” said Dr. Richard Ray, a Hope kinesiology professor in a statement.
He, along with Western Theological theology and ethics professor Dr. David Stubbs are co-directing the program, which has seven professors and 10 assisting students teaching six classes to 20 students. The goal is to reach a full “cohort” of 80 students, recruited from the entire male state prison population of 31,000, with accepted candidates transferred to Muskegon for classes.
Ray and Stubbs are hoping that the Higher Learning Commission will approve their request of establishing this program as a satellite campus of Hope College. In addition, they are looking for recruiting faculty members and “the recruitment of a robust pool of generous donors.” The program is already getting up to $100,000 dollars annually over a four-year period from “a generous donor (who) has committed to match gives to Western Theological Seminary.”
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